Two of the more evenly matched squads in the NCAA tournament face off when the 8-seeded Creighton Bluejays take on the 9-seeded Kansas State Wildcats.
In all likelihood, the key to this game will be whether Kansas State forward Dean Wade and guard Barry Brown can be healthy in time for the game. Wade in particular could prove essential to Kansas State’s chances, given the size advantage he can give against a Creighton squad that struggles against bigger players. A hive mind of fans predicts the winner of the game.
To predict the result of this and other games, Unanimous A.I. used what’s known as swarm intelligence to forecast the week’s slate. About 50 college basketball fans worked together as a hive mind to make picks. As you can see in the animation below, each participant controlled a little golden magnet and used it to drag the puck toward the answer they thought was the most likely outcome. As the users saw the puck move toward a particular outcome, it triggers a psychological response. They readjust their decision-making, building toward a consensus.
The hive mind predicts with low confidence that Creighton will walk away the victor. The A.I. is giving an edge to Creighton with 82 percent of its brainpower, but Kansas State still has a decent shot of pulling it out.
Read more from Inverse: The Perfect NCAA Bracket Is A.I.’s Biggest Sports Challenge Yet
Unanimous A.I. has made some scarily accurate predictions in the past using swarm intelligence, as our previous article explains. For instance, the swarm picked this year’s Oscar winners with 94 percent accuracy. Here’s Unanimous A.I. founder Louis Rosenberg explaining swarm intelligence at a recent TEDx Talk.
The game tips off on Friday at 6:50 p.m. Eastern in Charlotte, North Carolina on TNT.
